BUCKING THE WIND TO BUCKNUCKLES

By postponing the Bucknuckles RTE to Sunday, we avoided the rain, but had to battle the never-ending wind on our journey.  We had 16 souls and our #1 mascot show up at Casey's under mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 70's.

The three-wheeler crowd included Darrel, Wayne & Sandy, Greg, ChucK, Roger,  and Bob & Julie.  On two-wheelers were Lee (Darrel's son), Al, Jim D & Moriah (Jim's granddaughter) along with Honey, Jim G & Cathy,  Dee, and Darron.

WAYNE & SANDY WELCOME GREG BACK

DARRON WITH NO SHORTS BUT PACKING A LUNCH

GREG GETS ACQUAINTED WITH HONEY

AL, JIM, MORIAH, AND HONEY

SANDY PREPARING FOR THE WIND

IT'S AN OFFICIAL RIDE NOW THAT WE HAVE SOME GELOS

ChucK maneuvers in

ROGER ADDS TO THE SPYDER CONTINGENT

DARREL & LEE GAS UP

Our group departed Waukon heading north on HWY 76.  We actually followed 76 for quite a ways by passing past Hanover , Dorchester, and Eitzen and on through Caledonia, Houston, and Money Creek.  After crossing the interstate, we picked up CR 12 and much to our delight, the county had just resurfaced the route into Witoka.  There we headed down the hill again on some recently improved blacktop on CR 17 and on into Winona.  After passing through some construction at the intersection, we took HWY 14 north along the lake, and turned onto Huff Street and into the visitor center for a break.  While there we found out that one of our riders, who shall remain nameless, violated the "full tank/empty bladder rule".

After our break we continued to pass through Winona on HWY 43/54 and crossed the bridge from Minnesota into Wisconsin.  Turning north then on HWY 35, we passed through Fountain City, and then at Czechville we turned east onto HWY 88.  So far, we were able to stand some of the wind blasts from the west and with very little humidity in the air, we were able to enjoy the scenery along the way.  HWY 88 led us through the metropolis of Cream (speed limit 20 mph) and on into the burg of Praag and our arrival at the iconic bar and grill named Bucknuckles.

WE ARRIVE TO A "PACKED HOUSE"

MR. BUCKNUCKLES STANDS TALL

HONEY FINDS A NEW "FRIEND"

IN CASE THERE IS EVER A FIRE IN PRAAG

After going inside the bar and looking at all of the various wall and ceiling hangings, we decided that the inside was too crowded, and opted for hot dogs outside.  The original plan was to come to Bucknuckles on Saturday when it's less crowded, but the rain prevented us from doing that.

WAITING IN LINE FOR HOT DOGS

THE BLUES BROTHERS ENTERTAIN IN THE SHELTER

A "HARLEY" MADE FROM CHAINS

SOMETHING LEFT BY A BUCKNUCKLES PATRON

While the rest of the group finished with their hot dogs, some of us sat out in front and watched some of the bike departures.  If you were going to do this for any length of time, ear plugs are strongly recommended!

After departing the Bucknuckles parking lot, we headed back down west on HWY 88.  HWY 88 is a smooth ride with some sweeping curves and great scenery, so a trip back on it is worthwhile.  At the bottom of the hill we reached HWY 35 again and headed south.  We passed back through Fountain City and then on through Bluff Siding and Marshland.  When we reached Centerville we pulled into Toad's Cove, a BP gas station that serves ice cream, so we filled our bikes and our bellies.

Some of us continued on HWY 35, but for the others, Suzie's Bakery offered too much of a temptation, so this is where the group split up.  HWY 35 took some of us over to CR K and we took that into Trempealeau and onto 35 again.  I had planned on taking K to CR M, but M was closed.  After getting on 35 again, we soon reached the intersection of HWY 53 and we took it south to Interstate 90 and headed east into Minnesota again.  We were still battling some wind and decided that taking the Wisconsin side back might offer us a break from the strong gusts.  We passed through LaCrescent and then onto HWY 26 heading south through Brownsville, Reno, and New Albin and then on into Lansing.  There we took HWY 9 back to Waukon.  I had close to 200 windy miles on the trike when we got her home.

Here's the route that Jim D and the rest of his friends took.

NEXT WEDNESDAY

So far the weather looks good for next Wednesday night.  Right now the plan is to venture over to the Bagley area.

GUYS' TRIP

By the end of June, we need to know who plans to go on the guys' trip to the Smoky Mountains scheduled for August 1-7.  Right now we have Jim G, Jim D, Clair, Darron, Al, ChucK, and Bob R on board.  If you would like to join this "nefarious" group, then we need to know by June 30th because motel reservations are critical!  Let Bob R or Jim G know ASAP!